It is typical in the construction of stairways to provide a stair rail or banister at at least one side of the stairway. Such stair rails are commonly positioned above at least one edge of the stairway at an inclined angle, the rail usually being supported by a plurality of rail spindles extended upwardly from the end portions of the stairs to the stair rail.
Most commonly, two stair rail spindles are provided for supporting the rail overlying the end of each stair. In some instances, three (or even four) spindles are provided for supporting the rail over each stair.
Various parts of the stairway, including the rails, are commonly made of wood and the present invention provides a stair rail spindle jig for use in drilling spindle apertures in the underside of the rail. The jig comprises a mounting block having a planar surface adapted to extend along and parallel to the underside surface of the stair rail.
According to the invention, provision is made for simplifying the operation of drilling the spindle-receiving apertures in the underside of the stair rail.
It is contemplated according to the invention that the jig mechanism be arranged to accommodate drilling of the spindle-receiving apertures in the stair rail at any desired inclined angle and also at any desired spacing along the stair rail.
In many instances, stair rail spindles are tapered, being of reduced diameter at the upper ends, and the same or similar spindles are used in each position above each step of the stairway; and since the rail is inclined at an angle to the stair and since the spindles are tapered, provision is made according to the invention for drilling individual apertures for the stair rails associated with a given stair of different diameters in order to accommodate the difference in diameters of the spindle at the point of junction of the spindle with the rail.
The foregoing and other complexities encountered in the fabrication of stairways, especially inclined stair rails has commonly resulted in complexities in the installation work particulary in connection with the drilling of holes in the rails of appropriate size and inclination. It is a major objective of the present invention to provide means for simplifying the complexities commonly encountered in this work.